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Former Russian premier criticises US foreign policy
Interfax

Moscow, 23 March: A military operation against Iraq would become "a historic mistake for the United States", President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yevgeniy Primakov has said.

Speaking at the 10th assembly of the Russian Foreign and Defence Policy Council on Saturday [23 March], Primakov noted that in this case "the scale of support for the USA (by other members of the international antiterrorist coalition) would significantly shrink, and the world would be divided by another principle". The former Russian prime minister accused a team in the Bush administration that is directing the US foreign policy today of lack of professionalism.

After the 11 September terror attacks, one could have expected the Americans "to try to get rid of the main basis for terrorism - the conflict in the Middle East - for instance, through expanding the number of mediators, especially bearing in mind that many European countries were prepared for this", Primakov said.

"However, the United States did not follow this path," Primakov noted, adding that "they neither followed another path, failing to revise methods providing their national security and exclude those disapproved of by other states". As a result, "even the French foreign minister spoke against the US unilateral approach to foreign policy", he said. Primakov recommended that Russia in these circumstances should "follow the policy of converging with Western states despite all disagreements remaining, taking into account our own interests".

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his greetings to the participants in the forum, calling the council "an independent research floor" and wishing its members new creative success.